Together
by The StarsShadow15
Summary: TiPo Fluffy One-shot. Shameless romance between Tigress and Po. A look into a day far into the future as they deal with a new, and yet old challenge. (Cover art belongs to 7oy7iger)


**A/N: **Had some random inspiration to write this fluffy one-shot.

* * *

_DOONNNG_

Dragon Warrior Po Ping slowly opened his eyes to the ringing sound of the morning gong.

The day had arrived.

_DONG_

He rolled over on his side to see if his wife was still beside him.

She was.

Good.

Po smiled. With her by his side, he could do anything.

_DONG_.

Right. With a suppressed groan so as to not wake her, he got out of his nice comfy warm bed and began to dress himself. As he did so, he snuck the occasional glance at her sleeping form.

The sight never failed to make him smile. She was so at peace, and so beautiful while she slept. And so, he kept as quiet as possible while he searched for his appropriate garments that were scattered about the floor amongst hers as well.

_DONG_

Despite his best efforts, just like everyday, his wife still awoke. But it was not due to his noise level, or even the morning gong, it was simply the fact that, even in her sleep, she noted the lack of his comforting and warm presence.

Propping herself up on an elbow she was greeted by the sight of Po slightly jumping up and down as he pulled his pants up.

She opened her mouth to speak- "Morning Tigress," but Po beat her to it.

Master Tigress smiled broadly. "Good morning Po." She said softly, as she continued to gaze fondly at him while he found the rest of his tunic amongst their pile of clothes.

It wasn't hard to notice that he was already feeling anxious about today. Bringing her legs up to sit criss-crossed, uncaring that her chest was uncovered, she spoke again. "You'll be fine, Po." She encouraged.

_DONG_

"Yeah, I know, I just... worry they'll... see the difference. Or something." Po mumbled as he rolled his shoulders, adorning his formal Dragon Warrior black and white suit. Tigress had never seen someone so handsome, even before he was finished dressing.

Speaking of...

Slipping out from under the covers, Tigress began to get dressed herself and now it was Po's turn to admire his partner's form. Which, also, did not go unnoticed, but was quite welcomed.

She dressed much quicker and efficiently than him however. Even though he had a significant head start, they still finished at just about the same time.

Po couldn't contain his growing smile as she finished tying up her golden qipao, and then looked up at him, with a questioning look.

Amber eyes met those of a Jade green. Po's smile grew, and Tigress fought to not let her own show.

But within seconds she broke eye contact as a smile broke through along with a small chuckle. "What, Po?" She said with a giggle.

"I just love you." He said nonchalantly with a smile and a shrug. "Is that alright?"

Tigress looked back at him, now with a determined, but no less beautiful look. "Very" was all she said before she leaned in for their first kiss of the day.

Their daily morning affection, regardless of what transpired, always made the couple's morning seem like the best one they've had yet. Nothing made Po happier then waking up next to his beloved, and being reminded that she still loved him.

She felt no different.

_DONG_.

And that's six. The morning for them had officially begun. This day had been both looked forward to and dreaded for quite some time now.

Reluctantly, the couple broke apart and their eyes fluttered back open. For a moment they locked eyes again and returned to their usual loving stare, but then Po remembered what would come next and looked away with a somber frown.

"But what if-"

"Shush." Tigress immediately put a paw softly to his mouth. "If they do notice anything different, they'll see how much you've grown. How you've matured, changed, and risen to the challenges you've faced over the past fifteen years."

She let that sink in for a moment, gauged his lack of a response and then continued.

"If they notice how you've changed, they'll notice how you've changed for the better."

"I don't think _ALL _my changes have been for the better Ti." He said solemnly, looking out their window to his left. "I don't feel nearly as... Good, as I once did."

They have had this conversation a couple of times over the years. With all the battles they fought, the crimes stopped, the mysteries solved, it was inevitable that Po's vision of the world would eventually darken to some degree.

"But that is one thing I love so much about you Po." She said softly as she walked up to him and put her arms around him in a hug. "While you may not be as innocent as you once were, you could have changed so drastically, or responded so differently. But yet here remains the Po I knew, the Po I fell in love with, and the Po I love to this day." She finished with a kiss on his cheek and snuggled into his neck.

With her words finally sinking in and her affection melting away his unpleasant mood, Po looked sideways at her with a mischievous glint in his green eyes.

Feeling his gaze and somehow, his intent, she rose off his shoulder and cast him an equal parts disapproving and amused look.

"What?"

Choosing his words carefully, Po slowly spoke with a very naughty grin growing on his face. "I imagine, last night, you quite enjoyed my lack of innoc-"

"Oh shush Panda." Tigress admonished with a light shove and walked towards the door, away from her grinning husband. Even after many years of marriage, he still made her feel like a hormonal teenager sometimes, complete with all the feelings of embarrassment. "We'll have guests to accommodate soon."

Tigress walked up to their bedroom door and placed a paw on it and turned to look at Po, waiting for him to join her.

Burying his less appropriate thoughts, Po take a steadying breath and approached the door, his wife, and the challenges of the day. Placing his paw on the door he looked to her once more, and smiled at the confidence he felt when he made eye contact.

Together they could accomplish anything. Today was no different.

* * *

Although they were both late, Grandmaster Shifu of the Jade Palace wasn't very upset, if at all.

At one point, years ago, he most certainly would've reprimanded them. But not only were they no longer his students, technically speaking, but they were also married. And both the latter and the former were things he could not be more proud of them for.

Still, as his daughter and son-in-law, he couldn't resist giving them a reproachful stare as they entered the Hall of Heroes fashionably late. "You're both... _Late."_

After stopping in front of him a short distance, Tigress had the decency to look apologetic and bowed. "Apologies Grand Master, the Dragon Warrior and I-"

"It's all her fault." Po interjected. Shifu raised a single brow _very_ high and Tigress shot daggers at her back stabbing, deceitful, _lying_ Panda who had the _audacity_ to-

"She decided to make me feel much better about today and we ended up having a conversation about it all. So, y'know, if it weren't for that, we would've been on time just fine." Po added on glibly.

Tigress heaved a breath at the roller-coaster of emotions he just made her feel and Shifu stifled a chuckle. Message received and translated from the Dragon Warrior: 'I was feeling down, she made me feel better. Whoops.'

"I see. Well, I'm glad you're-" Tigress discreetly jabbed Po in the side to Shifu's amusement- "feeling better. Our guests arrived shortly before the morning gong. Due to the distance of their travel, their estimated time of arrival was slightly inaccurate. I leave the decision of where to greet them, to you, Dragon Warrior."

Po was used to, by now, the passing of decisions to him and was unabashed by this. "Let's meet them here, in front of the moon pool. The place where I became the Dragon Warrior. Sorta..."

Shifu nodded with a small approving smile and went to send the message to Zheng who'd retrieve their guests.

A few moments later, with Tigress to Po's left, and Shifu to his right, the two large palace doors opened, and their guests slowly walked in. They were four animals of very different species: a golden snub-nosed monkey, a viper, a praying mantis, and a crane.

Once they reached a short respectful distance from the three resident Masters, Po spoke in as much of a regal and official voice as he could muster. "Welcome back to the Jade Palace, Masters Monkey, Viper, Crane, and Mantis. I have requested you return for many reasons, the most important of which we will cover in detail tomorrow after you have all settled and rested from your long journeys."

While he spoke, the four of them were surprised to a degree to be greeted like this by the big fluffy panda they once knew, but outwardly they maintained perfect composure.

By his side, both Tigress and Shifu weren't surprised at all, and were rather proud at Po's ability to be formal when he wanted. Tigress especially was feeling rather affectionate toward her panda, but last time the six of them had been in the same room, Po and Tigress were newly weds, so while she wanted to hold his paw, she resisted.

"Formally, I ask the four of you to put your available resources to the best of use while you remain here for the duration of our mission. You will of course be allowed to stay in your old rooms, and meals will be daily. Once the mission is complete, you can return to your homes. Informally, you can stay as long as you like." Po paused here, internally debating something for a moment. "Any questions?"

For a few deathly silent moments, the four of them exchanged quick and silent looks and all shook their heads. "Good. Now if I could just add one more thing-" Then suddenly like a switch was flipped, Po dropped all formal demeanor.

"Oh my gosh welcome back guys! It is so good to see you!" Po yelled out with arms wide open, expecting them to run in and hug him.

The four of them were so taken aback by this change of character, again, that they didn't know what to do and Tigress cringed at the awkwardness of the moment.

Po however, was not thrown and dropped his arms. "Heh, you guys like that? I've had to be formal quite a few times in the past fifteen years. I've finally picked up a few things."

After another moment passed, the silence was broken on their part when Mantis let out a heavy breath. "Sheesh. You really had me going there buddy. For a while there I was worried you had really changed over the past few years."

Po chuckled in good nature and his conversation with his wife this morning resurfaced to the forefront of his mind. "Heh. Nah. Only in good ways." Tigress smiled.

And just like that, the dam was finally broken and all four walked up to him and began chatting and excitedly asking questions, with Tigress joining in by her Panda's side.

Shifu remained watching from a distance with a soft content smile as the surrogate family reunited with each other.

Tigress and Po together were already a force to be reckoned with, but with all six of them together, they were truly unstoppable. There was no challenge they could not face, no obstacle they couldn't overcome, as long as they were together.


End file.
